Monday, February 27, 2006

Ilan Halimi: In memoriam


On January 21 a young guy called Ilan had a crush on a girl who visited his shop. He took her on a date which turned out to be a trap. He ended up chained, tortured and kept prisoner for 2 weeks, then left dying near train tracks in the suburbs of Paris. The gang that abducted him did it because he was Jewish and, as such, his family was supposed to be rich and afford to pay a ransom. This story moved a lot of people in France and not only from the Jewish community. I am glad and proud that yesterday, about 200,000 slightly less than 100 000 people marched peacefully in memory of him.

30 comments:

  1. Eric,

    Another great shot for a memorable moment. Nice!


    Rodney

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  2. Someone (you?) in a recent photo blog said black and white was easier to use than color, but in this case, it seems fitting.

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  3. Oh my god, such a terrible story, i seems terrible that there is so much hatred out there. i find memorials very moving and i find that this picture expresses the sadness of the people in this memorial.

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  4. Eric, I've been away - I've just got back to your blog after having had my camera in Paris stolen (pretty tough for a photographer) and almost getting killed on my holiday to Peru (attacked by four guys with knifes and a gun)...

    Anyway, I have to admit, with a lot of admiration and the slightest touch of jealousy, that your latest shots are absolutely superb and I'm honoured to be living in the same city as someone with such a talented eye.

    Tell me when you can come along to Shakespeare & Co. to give a presentation of your work (on a Wednesday evening) - we'd be delighted!!!

    Sab :-)

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  5. Eric, thank you for sharing this photo with us. I am saddened by the loss of Ilan's life. What a terrible blow for his family. I more saddened to know that fellow human beings can hold such level of hatred for another human person, and that it moves them to kill.

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  6. Poor thing!!! Dang, that's a really sad story. Goes to show you how stereotypes can hurt people. It does make you feel somewhat better, though, to know that 200,000 people care.

    Thank you so much, Eric, for blogging that event for us. And by the way, the choice of black & white in this case is just perfect.

    * * *

    (Hey, Sab, welcome back! Sorry to hear about all your misfortunes and good to see you again! Yes, Eric's been busy!)

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  7. i love that this is black and white, very sobering.

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  8. Excellent choice for a photo Eric. The strangest thing about this whole story was that I didn't catch them talking about the kidnapping until it was too late. Was it mentioned much in the news or was it kept quiet to try and negotiate with the kidnappers?

    I like the photo in the link you made too. Really somber.

    Sab, now that we know you're ok, were you able to take any photos where you were?

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  9. 200 000 people, wow! Were you in the middle of all of that? In the U.S. it would have been hard to control that many people. After seeing your shot I did some research on the internet and found out that Ilan Halimi was really, really tortured. How horrible. I thought France was supposed to be the tolerant country.

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  10. What a sad story! Sometimes I think those video games play a great part in turning some into cold-blooded monsters and kill without reasons.

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  11. I felt so disturbed by this I actually felt sick to my stomach, and had to go lay on my bed for a moment. Randomly I opened the book I was reading earlier and put my finger on this phrase. "It doesn't matter what they did to you; forgiveness has washed you clean."

    The paragraph started with, "It is the consciousness of peace, not the behaviour of war, that will ultimately turn back the tides of fear." I think your photograph of the march clearly reflects this.

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  12. So sad, so frightful too. But the real question is: When all this will end? And how will it end?

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  13. > Rodney. Thank you.

    > Bob. I agree, that is why I made this one black and white. The colour one is not as powerful.

    > Cynthia. Well frankly this could happen virtually everywhere, but it does not happen often here that is why people were so moved.

    > Hey Sab (paris set me free) glad to see you're back. Sorry to hear about your cam - and much worse your attack. It's not the 1st time I hear a story like that from people who have been to Peru though... OK how about this Wednesday for the "Shakespeare experience" Will you be there this week?

    > Single. Yes, it must be dreadfull for his mother.

    > Tomate. Actually 200 000 was what they announced yesterday evening but this morning it's down to a little less than a 100 000. Which is not enough in my opinion but still it's better than nothing.

    > Jackson. Thanks.

    > Michael. Thank you. No the whole thing was kept secret the whole time as the gang would communicate through the Internet and they wanted to trace them. However, Ilan was kept prisonner in an apartment outside Paris and some people say that it was impossible for the neighbourgs not to notice...

    > Anonymous. Well like I said to Tomate it happens to be a little less than 100 000. And yes I was in the middle of the crowd. I am not jewish, but precisely I thought it important to be there and show that it was not a Jewish issue but a human issue. France is a tolerant countries but there monsters everywhere, even in tolerant countries...

    > Lisi. I think, in this case, stupidity plays a larger role than video games.

    > Tango. And I did not mention what they really did to him, otherwise you would have been even more sick. To tell you the truth, I actully think there is a lot of resentment in this march, much more than forgiveness...

    > Claude. It will never end. There will always be monsters. It does not mean we have to remain silent.

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  14. Hi Eric,

    Good story and great shot. Crowd/demonstration shots are not easy - I've been trying recently and haven't had much success. It really captures the quiet nature of the march.

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  15. I agree - crowds in Australia don't seem to behave very photographically. this ones nice and tight - or you got it that way

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  16. Hello Eric,

    As you said, "it was not a Jewish issue but a human issue", and I felt it clear in the mood of this crowd. Though, I would have loved this crowd -and not only the oganisers- to be a little more representative of french diversity like, say, the one between the 2 turns of the last presidential elections.

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  17. Bonjour Eric,
    Je viens de rentrer a Paris apres 24 jours en Inde et une des premieres choses que j'ai faites c'est regarder ton site pour voir ce qui s'etait passe a Paris en mon absence.
    Merci pour les petites vignettes et les histoires qui les accompagnent.
    A photographer in Paris.com

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  18. A horrific story - any act of violence is horrible, but when it is based on its victim's race or sexual orientation, it is beyond dreadful, it is unqualifiable. Glad to see that a good crowd gathered in Ilan's memory and, as usual, Eric, this is a terrific shot.

    Glad to have you back among us, Sab, and sorry about the camera and what happened in Peru.

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  19. Eric, you did not need to describe to me how tourtured he was. It was clearly understood.
    Of course there is resentment in the march. Being a human is difficult work, how can we be forgiving to such an intolerant act (for lack of a better word). The coincidence of the sentence I chose is that on the opposite page the author talks about her visit to Anne Franks house and the extermination of the Jews in the concentration camps.
    This is only a comment box, so one will not write a whole essay about what sort of feelings, ideas and emotions that come up. And it is wonderful that your photos are moving the emotions of your readers.

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  20. Lisi, Have you watched Bowling for Coumbine, the Michael Moore film? He has a comparison on violent video games vs. gun deaths in various countries. And the outcome is surprising.

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  21. Mais c'est affreux cette histoire !! Comment est-ce qu'on peut être assez stupide et ignoble pour faire des choses pareilles ??!

    Thanks for the nice shot and the story, even if it is a very sad one :-(.

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  22. This is really sad. I like the black and white effect a lot though. It helps convey the feeling of the story. Thank you for sharing this Eric.

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  23. Tango: the context of Bowling for Columbine is a little different, though.

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  24. At least there are still people that care. Those that went on the march. People like you, Eric, and people like us.

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  25. So much grief for one high-profile act, legitimate too, but I'm not sure what saddens me more: this or the famished infant on Anne's blog. Either way, a significant picture: not a single smiling face, rare in a demo even of this sort.

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  26. Apologies, html hiccups or something. The "famished infant" link was meant to lead to this photo: http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1242/433/1600/97357517_8d39f2d210.jpg
    Somehow, it didn't work...

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  27. I watched this truly horrific story on French news, and thank you for the photo.

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  28. Beautiful picture. Ghastly, unthinkable story. Wonderful site. Thank you.

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